Clumsy In Love
by mugglebornpride
Summary: When Lily fell in love, she fell quite literally.


When Lily fell in love, she fell quite literally.

The first time Lily made the grave error of liking a boy was when she was in her third year. Arithmancy was a new subject and Lily could not, for the life of her, find the classroom. Sirius had told her it was in the east corridor of the second floor beside the portrait of the old monocle-wearing warlocks having a tea party. But Lily had been all around the second floor and there was no such portrait let alone a classroom beside it. She was frantically pacing the same ten feet of the corridor, nearly in tears because if she couldn't even find the classroom then how in Godric's name was she supposed to pass the stupid class.

"Are you supposed to be furiously pacing the corridor that's off-limits?" a smooth, amused voice asked. Lily turned around to tell this person, whoever it was, to shove it but the words died in her throat as she saw that it was Fabian Prewett. You don't tell a seventh year to shove it when you're just a lowly third year. So Lily related to him her troubles in a slightly harried manner. "And now I'm going to fail Arithmancy." She finished woefully.

Fabian laughed, not unkindly. Lily smiled too because Fabian had a nice laugh. "Don't worry. Professor Vector is a real softie." He said and led her to the Arithmancy classroom, which was in the north corridor of the first floor and there was no sign of warlocks having tea parties whatsoever. Damn Sirius Black, Lily cursed inwardly. Fabian rapped the door smartly and pushed it open. He explained why Lily was late and the professor seemed quite understanding, even chuckling a little. Lily walked into the classroom and Fabian gave her a cheeky wink and a cheery wave and left Lily completely smitten.

He had curly ginger hair that framed his head like a huge halo and he was tall and lanky and when he smiled, Lily saw stars. He was perfect.

The next day, Fabian sat next to her for breakfast. Well, he was sitting with his friends who happened to be sitting near her. They talked loudly and laughed raucously. Halfway through breakfast, Fabian turned around and asked Lily to pass the marmalade. In all her excitement, a flustered Lily managed to knock Fabian's pumpkin juice into his cereal, the poor owl delivering Mary's mail was whacked on the head for its trouble and the marmalade dish was upended.

The very thought of Fabian and the incident made Lily blush every time.

The next time Lily made a grave error was when she was in her fourth year.

She was standing at the very edge of the lake, her toe touching the water ever so slightly, and talking to Severus. It was a pleasant sort of day. Sun peeking through the clouds, flowers blooming, birds singing- the whole shebang. What clinched it was Bertram Aubrey. He was a fifth year with the most gorgeous brown eyes and the most gorgeous brown hair and just the most gorgeous everything. He was standing a little ways away from her, and him and Adam Winters were passing around a Quaffle. Lily watched as Bertram's shoulders stretched and his biceps flexed as he threw the Quaffle powerfully. She smiled vaguely and in a lost sort of manner. Until Sev's snapping fingers right under her nose brought her back to attention.

"What?" she asked, feeling a little disoriented.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sev asked dubiously.

"Of course I am." Lily scoffed and tried to cover it up. She turned away from Bertram Aubrey and his flexing shoulders and then she heard him calling to her. Lily snapped around, delighted. Her eyes widened as she saw the Quaffle speeding towards her, getting bigger and bigger. She screamed and stepped back hastily. That was stupid. Not only did the Quaffle hit her, she also fell into the lake. Lily knew Bertram Aubrey was a lost cause after that and she stepped back graciously. Well, as graciously as one could be when one was dripping wet and had some sort of aquatic plant on their head and a beetle in their hair at least.

All of that seemed like a little stumble compared to seventh year.

Seventh year was when Lily realized she fancied James. Just the thought of him made her stumble a bit and his laugh made her heart feel like it was riding a rollercoaster.

Day one and Lily put on her head girl badge and gazed at her flickering reflection in the window of the train. It was pity she didn't have a mirror. She was going to back to Hogwarts as Head Girl this time. She was delighted. An inconsequential muggleborn like her was head of the whole school. Suck it, pure blood fanatics!

Lily pulled open the compartment door and found herself in front of James Potter. He grinned at her and Lily grinned back. She'd missed that grin more than she wanted to admit. It was the very sincere promise of mischief in it that clinched the deal. Lily shut the door of the compartment behind her wordlessly and they made their way forward. Lily had barely taken two steps before her robes were pulled taut and she realized that they were caught in the door of the compartment. She stumbled into James who tripped but managed not to fall. Lily was not so fortunate. Her robes ripped and she tumbled down with a profound lack of grace.

You'd think she'd be used to the constant clumsiness by now but Lily's eternal hope that she had become graceful overnight never faded.

So it went on for months. She tripped in front of him twice, almost hosed down the portrait of a diminutive knight and knocked down an entire shelf of books in the library.

In Transfiguration one time, which had never really been her best subject, they were supposed to be transfiguring their desks into pigs. Try as she might, all Lily could do was animate the legs. And then she'd managed to lose it. It hadn't been her fault, not really. James was holding her wrist, showing her the required movement and Lily had been a tad distracted. The damned table had galloped away or giddy-upped away or whatever it was that tables did. It was loose in the castle and everyone lived in fear of the wild table.

Two days later, James had found the table. The spell had weakened and table seemed genuinely tired as it trotted in front of the armored knight Lily was cowering behind.

When at long last, James kissed her it was out in the grounds after a storm. The ground was wet and muddy and their boots made squelching sounds every time they took a step. There were puddles scattered about everywhere and the two of them negotiated a path around them. Lily was saying something about the enigma of a stag's prongs when James pulled her to him and kissed her softly, his lips just glancing and grazing across hers. Lily stepped towards him out of an instinctive need to be closer. She tripped on her overlong robes and took James down with her. They splashed right into a puddle. It wasn't a graceful fall either. Lily landed painfully on James and probably elbowed him because he let out what sounded like a very painful 'oomph'. She made to get up but he pulled her down and kissed her and as she melted into him effortlessly, Lily resigned herself to a life of clumsiness.


End file.
